It came as quite a
surprise, albeit a pleasant one, to
find another recording of the early
Strauss Suite so relatively soon after
the one by I Solisti del Vento that
I reviewed
in July. Though I found the playing
to be of a high standard on that issue,
I complained about the balance, with
horns often far too loud. That problem
does not arise here, for engineers and
performers have succeeded in balancing
the work ideally, so that all important
material can be heard - which applies
not just to the Suite but to the other
two works as well.

Ensemble Villa Musica
are a German-based group whose members
are all distinguished players from top
symphony orchestras, and they play without
a conductor. That is a real achievement,
particularly in music such as the late
Sonatina, with its intricate – some
might say fussy – textures and often
daunting technical challenges. Interestingly,
though, it is the Sonatina which brings
the finest performance on the disc.

The op.4 Suite, though
played well enough, has one or two questionable
decisions where a conductor might have
helped. For example, the 1st
movement is really too quick for the
indicated Allegretto, making
the music sound rushed. Similarly, the
transition from the finale’s introduction
to the main section of the movement
is misjudged, with a hectic accelerando
that goes nowhere. Similarly, the
delightful one-movement Serenade lacks
a sufficient sense of flexibility. Whatever
the young Strauss may have said about
the piece (he was dismissive), it is
attractive, and has a magical coda,
which is made to sound a bit matter-of-fact
here.

"From the Workshop
of an Invalid", as Strauss described
his Sonatina of 1944, is a title hardly
designed to inspire confidence! But
have no fear: this is ‘echt’ late period
Strauss, from the composer of the "Four
Last Songs" and the Second Horn
Concerto, full of passages of glorious
Autumnal beauty, and the players of
Villa Musica miss no opportunity to
communicate expressively. Perhaps the
finale is just a tad leisurely
when it starts, for there is certainly
no urgency in Strauss’s mind, and he
indulges to the full his love of musical
sub-plots. But the advantage is that
all the details are beautifully and
lovingly in place, so that I found this
ultimately a moving experience; the
playing of the first horn and oboe is
particularly fine, but the work of the
entire ensemble is top notch.

It is fascinating to
compare the early Suite and Serenade
with the late Sonatina, for the intervening
sixty years contains all the music for
which Strauss became world-famous. He
was undoubtedly harking back to his
youth, both in this Sonatina and in
the - to my mind anyway - far less attractive
Symphony in E flat, which can be found
on Volume 1 of this series. The early
works were written for thirteen wind
instruments (note the Mozartean figure!)
- two each of flutes, oboes, clarinets
and bassoons, one contrabassoon and
four horns – while the late works expanded
this by adding the shrill C clarinet
and basset horn (a sort of tenor clarinet).
Only two instruments, yet the difference
they make in the richness of sonority
available to the composer is remarkable.

This is a superbly
engineered recording, for wind instruments
are amongst the hardest to record satisfactorily,
and this CD is a distinguished addition
to the Strauss discography.

A little foot-note;
according to the booklet, the Suite
and Serenade contain a ‘contra-bassoon’
and the Sonatina a ‘double bassoon’.
In case you were wondering – they’re
the same thing!

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